• Bixigu Txakoli is a brand produced by the Lazkano family who have produced and sold Txakoli for four generations. José Antonio, grandfather of the current owners, used to make wine at home for family consumption, and to sell locally, until they set up the Gaintza cellar in 1923. Bixigu means “Sea Bream”, "this is the traditional fish you eat in the famous restaurants in Getaria like Elkano...grilled Bixigu is sold on the streets outside the restaurants, just to keep you hungry at all times”

• They are based in Getaria, the capital of Getariako Txakolina. Getariako Txakolina is the first official Txakoli appellation (created in in 1989), the Bizkaiko txakolina appellation was created in 1994, and Arabako appellation was created in 1998.

• The Winery name Gaintza isn’t the family name, it’s to do with where their vineyards are: “gain” means high-up site in Basque. Their vineyards are planted up on the hills above the fishing town of Getaria at 75 meters of altitude and 150-500m from the water. Here soils are a shallow layer of clay and chalk over deep granite bedrock

• This is a very traditional producer and expression of the category. There is a driving acidity, salinity, and slight effervescence though (unlike many larger producers) this contained C02 is a natural result of fermentation, and nothing is added. As a whole, this producer uses a lighter hand both in the vineyards and in the cellar and favors low impact sustainable methods far more than the norm for the region.